Daisugi: The Art of Growth

by LytnX5

New genin graduate as the hopes of the Land of Fire. Shinrai Uzumaki, adoptive brother of Naruto Uzumaki and the other wicked half of the Demon Twins. Kusari Hyuuga, sister of Neji Hyuuga, trapped by destiny. Gosei Senju, descendent of the Shodai and eldest heir to the Senju Clan. Their sensei, Ryujin Hiyenzo, Kyuubi Jinchuriki and former student of the Yondaime. FullSummaryInside

47. Chapter 39

𓍊𓍊 ~ Chapter Thirty-nine — Wrath of Inari ~ 𓍊𓍊

Gold flashed as Miya erupted. The Third Gate in tandem with her Adamantine Chakra. A swift backhand and a murder of crows flocked out of where Itachi's body once was. Miya caught a glint and Itachi's kunai broke on contact with her Adamantine skin. I need to lead him away from the rebuilding effort.

She blitzed through hand seals, staring at her own feet. "Wind Style: Golden Whirl." Surrounding wind turned solid with unbreakable Yang and a surprisingly small pulse blasted Itachi away. With all the strength she could muster, she leapt off of the stone platform where she stood. Before she knew it, she was hundreds of feet in the air. Adamantine Chains thwipped from her wrist and a smaller chain reached into the river bed near the center of Konoha. Where she currently was… near the wall.

All of Miya's strength yanked her toward the central river. The cawing of crows near her let her know that Itachi had followed her. Miya sucked her teeth as she fell through the air. Dammit! This is the worst possible time for Infinity to be broken. I haven't had an opportunity to repair it since Killer Bee destroyed it—

A golden flash and she collided with the river's surface. Her increased weight would've created a tsunami had Miya been unable to control it. Itachi landed gracefully in front of her, wearing a civilian's outfit, and she immediately diverted her gaze down. Remember, the feet. Watch the feet… she felt Gai's ghost assuring her at this moment.

Itachi… he shouldn't have Chakra to spare. I do. With that she blasted through hand seals. The entire river beneath the both of them turned Gold. "Water Style!" The water rose for nearly a hundred meters with Itachi losing his footing on the river. "Adamantine Water Dragon!" An entire river worth of water formed into a golden serpentine dragon. Itachi immediately guarded as the water blasted toward him.

It hit and the river was filled once again. Illusionary crows flew out of the rushing water and Itachi reformed—the sound of a gentle splash—Miya turned her back and crossed her arms. Fire rushed over her like cold water. When the flames dispersed, Itachi was gone. Nothing, she heard and saw nothing.

A crow landed on her.

Then another.

Then another.

By the time she could blink, crows swarmed her—dozens of Adamantine Chains whipped around her like a golden tornado. "Release!" she strained. Itachi's Genjutsu barely budged. Miya kept her eyes shut. If she was caught in an ocular Genjutsu, then it'd be over. The Genjutsu was disorienting, but not debilitating. Miya whipped through signs. "Earth Style: Golden Stalagmites." Many golden spikes of Adamantine Earth erupted from the river—she heard crows caw. I hit him!

With Itachi assumedly reforming, the crows around her gave way and Miya opened her eyes to see the water below. Her eyes darted around fast—all she saw were crows perched. Where one of them once was, Itachi reformed.

All of those crows… they're the substitutions he has ready. There are over a dozen… I just need to catch him that many times. Miya blitzed toward Itachi—more crows cawed. She spied one of the crows atop the nearby bridge start to fade. Immediately, she weaved hand seals. "Adamantine Spear!" Her unbreakable chakra formed into a spear which she hurled at the crow. When Itachi formed, he immediately dodged the attack with widened eyes.

Miya wasted no time in pursuing him. They both landed on solid ground. Her fist was blocked and her kick was dodged. If she hit him once then he was done. That much was for sure—Itachi was never known for taking attacks, only avoiding them. Her chains acted as twenty-four additional limbs hellbent on tagging Itachi.

All of her attacks were dodged with expert movement, but she could tell that he was straining. Her chains attacked for her as she bled and weaved hand signs. Her hand slammed to the floor and a sealing matrix spread. "Heavenly Restriction Seal." With her Adamantine Chains surrounding Itachi on all sides, there was no way for him to escape. The suppressive aura of her Adamantine prevented him from using his crows.

The seal laced itself to his very chakra—at the same time that Itachi crossed his fingers. Miya's eyes narrowed as another Itachi popped into existence. The clone of Itachi leapt up before the seal could conquer him and dove toward Miya. Its mouth opened to reveal an explosive tag.

Miya's makeshift Adamantine cage shuddered and Miya winced at the blunt force of the explosion. Of course, her Adamantine Aura protected her from any real damage. But, more urgently, the ground beneath the seal was blown to smithereens, and again, Itachi was out of her line of sight.

From behind her she heard a crow caw—then a thousand birds.

"Raikiri!" Kakashi called, slashing at Itachi. His sparking hand was caught by the Uchiha, but not before it felt like the very world itself was bending, refracting like light in water. Even Itachi looked taken aback.

Every crow in the area simply burst as if their very nature was turned against them—their form performed a coup.

"Yin Style: Rebellion of the Silhouette." It was Dantai.

Itachi's very body seemed to rip itself apart, just like his crows—he quickly kicked Kakashi away before weaving a hand sign. Miya wasted no time, her Amethyst Dagger sparkling with Adamantine Gold as she slashed Itachi. Just the cloth of his shirt was torn before he had the time to step back.

"No more substitutions, Itachi." Dantai walked from the refracting earth like he was born from it. Such venom spewed from his voice, it was almost unlike any hatred she ever heard before. Utter malice spewed an aura of white Yin from his very body.

With a calm breath, Itachi stood firm. "Dantai? I thought you were dead."

"You wish I was you fucking bastard," spat Dantai—the world continued to bend with his hatred.

Itachi with his three-tomoed eyes looked to Kakashi, who had his non-Sharingan eye closed, then Miya, who had her gaze firmly planted on Itachi's feet, and Dantai, who was utterly unphased.

"I don't wish to kill any of you if I can help it. It'd be a shame for Konoha to lose more Shinobi after losing so many recently" Itachi said, tone even as he scanned his three opponents.

Dantai cackled. Putrid loathing and bitter arrogance filled the air. Calmly, he walked toward Itachi, until his face was mere inches from his. "Bold of you to assume that you can kill me," he declared while looking directly into Itachi's eyes.

Itachi's eyes went wide for just a second before they began to morph—a crimson streak fell from the sky. Everybody's attention turned toward the sudden quake of the earth caused by the falling red. Three boiling tails of chakra whipped from Ryujin as his Kyuubi-shaped eyes glowed with a warning for Itachi to not take another step.

"I'll only say this once, and only once. Leave this village, Itachi Uchiha," Ryujin warned with his face as hot and hard as brimstone.

Ryujin's mere presence turned the chaotic, refracting world back to normal. An establishment of pure order that set everybody straight—everybody present couldn't help but hold their breath.

Itachi kept calm while Dantai flung his head to look at Ryujin with a deadly look. "I only wish to know the condition of my brother."

"Sasuke's completely fine," Kakashi informed, narrowing his Sharingan eye. "Is that all you want?!"

"Indeed," Itachi said. Crows began to form from Itachi's body—Dantai screamed and chaotic lightning spewed from his hand to end Itachi. All he killed was a crow. Itachi Uchiha had left as quickly as he came.

"Dammit!" Dantai glared at Ryujin. "Why the fuck would you give him an out?! We could've killed him here and now once and for all—what the fuck is wrong with you?!"

Ryujin glared back. "Does Konoha look like it's in the state for a battle of that scale?!"

"Yeah so what if more village gets destroyed, we'll rebuild it again! You think a couple of fucking buildings are worth more than all of the lives he took?!" Dantai screamed, throwing his hand to show the half-built Konoha.

"Think about it! Y'know what, fuck all morality and what's right. Killing Itachi would've done wonders for our current reputation! Even in Konoha's weakest point we were still able to kill one of our biggest threats and Yosei Senju wasn't even there! Letting him leave was possibly one of the single most fucking idiotic things I've seen from you Ryu! For Sage's fucking sake."

A snap of his fingers and Dantai flickered away in a distorted warp. Ryujin snarled, and his Kyuubi cloak boiled off of him. With a sigh, he turned his back and left. It was then when Miya was comfortable enough to let her Adamantine Mode dissipate. Kakashi let out a haggard breath and covered his Sharingan back up.

"Look at it this way, Miya," Kakashi began. "No lives were lost. Destruction was minimal. Nobody was seriously injured. We can keep going how we were like nothing happened."

"Yeah…" She let out a sigh. "I hate how even after we've repaired the village's defenses so much, that somebody like Itachi can just waltz in without anybody noticing." Her fists clenched. "If only Yosei were here…"

"We shouldn't need Yosei," Kakashi said, looking Miya right in the eyes. "We're all Shinobi of Konoha. Yosei isn't infallible. She can lose. As seen just now, she won't always be here. Yosei's presence doesn't give us the room to slack or whatever. That's what I thought for the longest, but, Konoha Crush has proven that wrong.

"So many things went wrong and could have gone worse. Just think about that, even if just for a second?"

Miya didn't want to. But she took a moment of silence anyway.

"You're the Hokage, right now, Miya. You just defended Konoha as well as any Hokage should. You've built the village up from its worst point. With people like you around, with people like me, Dantai now, Asuma, even Ryujin sometimes… we don't need people like Yosei, though she certainly helps." He put a hand on her shoulder and eye smiled. "Just keep up the good work, and do even better when you can."

Miya allowed a small smile to curl her lips. "Thanks… Kakashi. Same goes for you, y'know."

He rolled his eyes. "I know that. If I didn't, then I wouldn't be telling you this."

"Alright," she said with a chuckle.

With everything said and done, Miya and Kakashi turned their separate ways to continue their good work.

—

Another morning, another day of training for her Dead Bone Pulse. Kusari was getting better, there was no doubt about that. Sasuke was at the training ground by himself already; that was to be expected. There wasn't a day where Sasuke didn't arrive hours before she did. At the crack of dawn, Kusari had to assume.

But someone else much more important to her caught her eye. Shinrai! He was back. He was in Konoha and from what she saw with her Byakugan, in great health. That same girl he left with was living in his home with him, it seemed. But Kusari honestly couldn't care less about her. She needed to greet Shinrai!

Faster than she'd like to admit, Kusari made her way to Shinrai's home. It didn't take long for her to arrive. When she did, a simple knock summoned him. The door creaked open until she saw his black eyes peek at her. They were… darker than usual; it almost looked like he was looking through her.

Kusari did her best not to break out into a dumb grin. Her smile was still much wider than usual. "Shinrai! Where the hell were you?!"

"Out…" he muttered, still hiding himself behind the door.

Kusari frowned. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

Even she could tell that was a lie.

Kusari pushed the door open to reveal all of Shinrai; he didn't fight back. There was… no energy or enthusiasm in his demeanor. Had he worn a different face, Kusari wouldn't have had any clue that this was Shinrai.

"Are you sure? Is everything alright?" asked Kusari, concern clawing at her from the inside out.

Shinrai let out a sigh before pulling her into a tight hug. There wasn't any warning, and it wasn't like any hug that they'd shared before. It was closer. The way he held onto her was almost desperate. Kusari was almost too stunned to hug him back. But, she did. "Shinrai?"

He didn't answer. He continued to hold her for nearly a minute before pulling back. His demeanor didn't change a bit—she could've sworn she saw an icy fear glint in his eyes. What happened to him? "Do you want to train with me? Sasuke will be there, but I've unlocked a new ability you might be interested in."

Shinrai's eyes lifelessly rolled. "You went to go and replace me already?" he asked dryly; it seemed like there was supposed to be humor there. If there was, it did not show in the slightest. The question felt like a hammer to the cranium.

"Uh… no? I would never," she answered slowly.

Shinrai cringed before walking out of his home and closing the door. "Yeah, sure. I'll come along."

Kusari forced a smile. "Great."

Shinrai didn't return with one at all.

The silence they walked in was crippling. Kusari felt her heart rip and rip just… being in his presence. All of her questions got vague answers and it led to her frustration and worry building up and up. Hopefully, once they got to training, he would come back to life. Training did wonders for Shinrai, that was for certain.

Eventually, the excruciating silence became too much to bear. "Why did you leave?"

"To kill the Snake Sannin," Shinrai answered hollowly.

Kusari had to pause, almost recoiling from the answer. "I'm sorry?"

Shinrai just shrugged.

"Did you succeed?"

A bitter anger flashed across his eyes. "No."

"You will next time," Kusari assured, swallowing hard.

"I know."

The sheer darkness behind the answer nearly reminded Kusari of herself when Shivua's influence was at its strongest. It made sense… considering what the Snake Sannin did to him. "If you need my help, I'll be there for you."

"I won't need it."

His rejection was flat, like the imaginary hammer hitting her gut. "If you say so," she responded with a humorous roll of her eyes.

Shinrai didn't respond at all.

Kusari's gut sank deeper into itself.

Soon after, they broke the forest into the clearing of Training Ground 7. Of course, Sasuke was there waiting. His sweaty brow furrowed at the sight of Shinrai. "Huh? The hell is he doing here?"

Since Shinrai didn't speak for himself, Kusari did. "He's been out of Konoha for a while, and I offered him training as a form of relaxation after a stressful mission. He accepted."

Shinrai stood still like a corpse.

With his twin-tomoed eyes, Sasuke analyzed him closely. Kusari rolled her eyes and sighed. "If I wasn't as bad as you think, then neither is he."

Sasuke scoffed at the statement before stopping to consider her for a moment. Apprehensively, he said, "...Alright."

Shinrai pulled out his White Grass Cutter. In response, Kusari grabbed her forearm and pulled a tanto of bone out. Finally, Shinrai had some sort of real reaction. "The fuck?!"

Kusari smirked with pride. "This is one of the three elements of Nikuura, the Dead Bone Pulse."

"...I see." Shinrai's three tomoe whirled to life. "Is it a Kekkei Genkai?"

"Yes. Of the Kaguya Clan."

Shinrai shrugged. "Never heard of 'em. Was your mom some crazy bone lady or some shit?"

"No… I got it from somewhere else," Kusari admitted. I should probably tell him about the Transmigrants, considering that Naruto is Ashura's.

Without a second wasted, Shinrai blurred forward. A grin that was as fake as an illusion on his face. Kusari countered his blade with her tanto of bone. Not long after, a fireball from Sasuke blasted toward the both of them.

A forced laugh broke from Shinrai's throat. "Well, you're not the only one with something new Kusari!" he yelled. It was… so off. With her now active Byakugan, it was easy to see the furious panic of confusion behind his eyes.

Soon after, his Chakra hardened into gold. Adamantine Chains erupted from his back toward Kusari and Sasuke. Another leap of joy from Kusari as she forced the bottom half of her ribs to rip through her skin and clothes on both sides of her body. Bones erupted from her back, shoulders, and lower chest to defend against the unbreakable Yang of Shinrai's chakra.

"You finally did it!" she said with an excited and proud smile. "Amazing!" Kusari didn't usually exclaim compliments, but… it seemed that Shinrai needed it.

He didn't react at all. "Thanks!" he forced with a hollow grin. The pain was still behind his eyes.

Kusari's heart ripped inside of her. Shinrai?

With almost rage, he belted out a dozen chains, half going to Kusari and the other toward Sasuke. His Sharingan allowed Sasuke to largely avoid the linear movements of the Adamantine. Kusari's Dead Bone Pulse allowed her to fight the chains with equal unbreakability. Her Byakugan couldn't see not even a hint of weakness in the chains.

All it saw was the crumbling weakness of Shinrai's facade.

Their sparring battle continued. Shinrai's fake smile faded and faded. His attacks became more and more aggressive. Since Sasuke was already fatigued, it didn't take much longer for him to get caught by Shinrai's Adamantine. Once he was, the fight was over for him.

Shinrai and Kusari could have continued fighting, but… they both saw it as pointless. Her Dead Bone Pulse receded, her bones returning to their proper place. Her jacket was in tatters but that was the least of her worries as she walked up to Shinrai.

She looked him in the eyes and said, "Shinrai, please tell me what happened."

Desperation pooled behind his eyes as he genuinely tried to react. He couldn't. He couldn't. With a bitter sigh, he shook his head. "Nothing."

A spark of frustration lit like a fire in her eyes. "Shinrai."

Nothing. Not a damned thing from him.

Kusari couldn't bear to push him any farther. But, there was somebody else. Somebody… that was with him the entire time. Putting up an act of her own, Kusari cursed. "Dammit! Something at the Hyuuga Compound came up. I'll return."

In a flicker, Kusari made her way toward the direction of the Hyuuga Clan. Once she was out of sight… she pivoted. She turned Shinrai's home.

Where that girl still was.

—

Why wasn't fighting working? Why wasn't training working? Why wasn't Kusari working? Why did he still feel cold—?

Sasuke walked forward, emerging from the shattered tree that Shinrai hurled him into. "Hey… just because she's gone doesn't mean we have to slack."

Shinrai's first instinct was to tell Sasuke to fuck off. For some reason, he didn't follow it. "What's the point?"

"Huh?! What do you mean? Don't you need to get stronger too?!"

"I do…"

"Then we train."

Shinrai didn't know what to say. He didn't want to say. He wanted the cold to go away. He needed the cold to go away. He needed to feel like a human again. He needed to feel like his own death would mean something. He needed to feel like—

In a flicker, Sasuke clocked him in the jaw. His brain rattled in his head and Sasuke glared at him with Sharingan of his own. "I'm serious."

With his three tomoe, Shinrai just stared into Sasuke's two.

Sasuke was the only one with eyes like his.

But, at the same time, not exactly.

Baiko fit that bill.

But… Baiko was gone. With Orochimaru. Shinrai was going to get him back. No matter how fucking cold he felt. Sasuke didn't feel like he mattered that much. What if Sasuke could make the cold go away? Please.

"Do you still think I'm an Uchiha?"

Sasuke almost recoiled from the question. "What?"

"When I first talked to you about this… you said that I'm an Uchiha, even if it's unorthodox. I told you that I have Itachi's blood. We've barely talked since. Am I still an Uchiha to you?" asked Shinrai, hollow like the winter breeze.

Sasuke made an expression. It was hard to describe—almost like a scowl? A frown? Deep in thought? Whatever. What really mattered was what he said. "What you do doesn't make you any more or less of what you are. What you are can't change."

"So… I'm still an Uchiha to you?"

Sasuke gave a short, tense nod.

"I see." That didn't make the cold any worse or better. It was just… there. Like cold water over metal. Nothing. Shinrai screamed on the inside. "Do you still want to know the story behind my eyes?"

At that question, Sasuke furrowed his brow. It took him a while to come to his decision. "Why do you ask?"

"I guess… that you compare me to Itachi because of what I am. A fucking lab rat. I don't think I can blame you? It is what it is. Personally, the last person I'd be is someone like him." Shinrai tried to put some emotion in his voice but there wasn't any there. …WHY?!

Sasuke almost looked guilty. "I… compared you to him because I thought Kusari was. You supported her… and that combined with your blood…" He shook his head. Then he sat on the grass. "I didn't know the full story on her end. She's more like me than she'll ever be like Itachi. Tell me the story behind your eyes… Shinrai."

To keep level with Sasuke, Shinrai sat as well. Fuck, the moment he thought of Yora the cold turned to frostbite. Fuck, dammit, fuck—When he grabbed onto her hilt it didn't help at all. Why did he agree to this? "Uh… I guess I unlocked at around the same time you did… the second time."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed, as if he could see the pain on him.

"During my mission to Grass, I uh… met a girl." Desperation's claws made a vice grip over Yora's hilt, using Shinrai's hand. No matter how much he pleaded for her to help her, she simply wasn't able.

The wound that Karin made was too much for Yora to heal.

Shinrai almost felt Yora's apology through his hand.

"I liked her. She was murdered in front of me." Shinrai held up his white Grass Cutter. "This blade was hers." He unsheathed Yora. "This was the one that killed her. I had… two tomoe after Grass."

Shinrai put Yora back into her sheath and pried his hand off of her using his frostbitten will. "I have three now. I got the… third one during the Forest of Death. When the Snake Sannin came." Frostbite ached so much that it burned. Freezer-burned fury forced Shinrai's tomoe to whirl.

"I had no memory before I woke up in Konoha for the longest time. After I met The Snake Sannin, I had all of it. He killed my mother. He killed my father. He kidnapped Baiko. He kidnapped me. He tortured Baiko. He tortured me. Baiko's still there—" Shinrai snarled. "There… there isn't a word to describe how much I hate Orochimaru. That was why I left. I tried to kill him and rescue Baiko, but I didn't."

The freezer-burned rage made Shinrai feel like death. It was arctic poison in his veins. "If I could only accomplish one thing in my life it would be to kill him."

Silence reigned for a minute before Sasuke sighed. "I understand. I think I understand you more than… anyone." Shinrai looked Sasuke in his eyes as he continued. "I'm sorry… that you have to feel the same hatred I do. It's despicable."

That, Shinrai could agree with. He showed that with a short nod.

"You may have his blood… but you're nothing like Itachi," Sasuke admitted with a genuine passion behind his voice. It was sincere.

Shinrai wished he could reciprocate.

He tried his best.

He put on a tight smile and nodded. "Thanks…" Shinrai used to be so good at pretending to be okay when he wasn't. What the fuck happened? Did it get so bad that it was impossible to hide?

That was the only possible fucking answer.

Sasuke nodded in kind to Shinrai before standing. "Let's get back to training."

With a sigh, Shinrai stood himself. He tried to put his heart into it. When it was so cold, that didn't mean a fucking thing.

—

She didn't know if Shinrai being gone made her feel better or worse. All Karin did was sit in his bed, in his room, wearing his hoodie, wearing his sweatpants, under his roof, because he brought her here, because he saved her life. What the fuck could she even do? All Karin could bring herself to do was sit and stare into the emptiness that was this world.

At least she was alone, like she was used to. Shinrai wasn't there as a constant reminder of how worthless she was. With a hollow breath, she took off her glasses and laid on the black of Shinrai's pillow. Her hair splattered over it like a bloodstain.

Well, she was in a Shinobi village. She was just going to be stuck in a medical tent until she dropped dead. It was… better than Orochimaru. Hopefully, it'd be better than Blade. Miya Uzumaki seemed… like a kind soul. Maybe she'd finally have some sort of peace in her life—what part of her deserved that?!

Karin scoffed, letting out a bitter laugh onto the pillow. Since when was I so fucking optimistic?

She still wasn't safe. Nowhere was safe. All she had here was a new hell she had to learn to live in. At least she knew she deserved it this time.

She let out another sigh. Shinrai really should have let her die. What was even the point of her being alive at this point? Now she had to make her life—his sacrifice mean something. Karin knew that wasting away would be wasting his sacrifice, but what the fuck else could she do?

Was there anything beyond healing that she was good for?!

What—?

The doorbell rang. Karin shot up, putting her glasses back on. Her senses immediately caught a girl at the door. One of… Shinrai's teammates. Kusari. Determination and concern rang in her chakra like an unbreakable bell.

Is she looking for me?!

Building up her motivation, Karin got herself out of the bed. She threw up the hood before opening the door. Her voice didn't work as she tried to answer.

All Kusari did was narrow her eyes. "What happened to Shinrai?"

"Uh…" It felt like Karin was stabbed through the heart again. "Why don't you ask him?"

"He won't tell me," Kusari stated. Her Byakugan came to life. "I'm hoping that you will."

Guilt's claws were ripping her out from the inside. Her heart hammered and breathing became too hard to bear.

Of course, with her Byakugan, Kusari noticed. Anger whipped in her unbreakable chakra. "What did you do to him?"

Karin's eyes shot wide as she took a step back. Without missing a beat, Kusari stepped forward. It was as if Kusari wasn't going to let her breathe. "You led him out of Konoha. You took him to wherever he was hurt—he's not himself." Kusari may have only displayed anger, but Karin felt the growing panic and dread pulling it to the surface.

"You know what happened. You are going to tell me."

Thunder was Karin's heartbeat and a tornado was her breath. It was her fault. She was one hundred percent responsible. The longer Karin stayed silent… the more her own guilt ripped apart from the inside out. So, she spoke.

She told Kusari everything.

There wasn't an event that went unmentioned.

Each sentence was a stab to a shattered piece of Karin's heart. Each sentence was a cup of oil thrown into Kusari's fiery fury.

By the end of her retelling, the silence was as deafening as a Bijuu's roar. The thunder of Karin's heartbeat made her sweat.

The silent eternity was obliterated by Kusari. "You… said you survived a decapitation, correct?" Her calm voice did not match up with the horrific anger Karin knew Kusari felt.

Karin gave her a stiff nod.

"Good."

Violent intent erupted from Kusari like a volcano. Karin barely had any time to react before Kusari's palm struck her chest. "Ingoken."

The right side of Karin's chest imploded—her lung collapsed and the pooling blood in her throat stopped her from screaming. Agony and shock turned Karin's legs into snapped twigs as she crumbled to the floor. She tried to hold on to herself, but she couldn't. The only sounds she could make were pathetic squeaks and bloody gargles.

Unphased, Kusari flicked Karin's blood off her hand and onto her face. "Try anything with Shinrai again and I'll be less careful about my aim. Am I understood?"

Horrified, Karin forced herself to nod through the pain.

Kusari turned out of the door and closed it without another word. Karin was left on the floor, her special chakra repairing the damage to her body like it always did. Not one bit did she resent Kusari for what she did. She just got what was coming to her. A welcome punishment for the bitch she was.

If anything, Karin was glad that Shinrai had people who felt so strongly toward him. They were nothing like her. Even after she finished healing, Karin laid in her own pool of blood for minutes before cleaning it.

The stain was still there.

—

It'd been a week and Ryujin still hadn't found an answer for the Koan. He knew what it wanted. Take everything away, who was he? What did his face look like before even his parents conceived him? Who was the person etched into his soul before life tarnished it? How the hell was he supposed to figure that out?! Well, his meditation that he barely practiced before was supposed to help.

It was something that Dantai suggested.

With how furious Dantai was after Ryujin spared Itachi… he was surprised that Dantai still wanted to speak with him. At that point, Ryujin wouldn't have. That was… besides the point. In meditation, Ryujin needed to banish all stray thoughts, he even silenced the Kyuubi. It was all just… him. Him and the mind that brought him nothing but torture.

Ryujin tried to go as far back as possible, from when he was a naïve brat that didn't yet learn that the world was tormenting. The brat who did nothing but reach out and help, who always smiled, who kept smiling and reaching no matter how many times he was bitten and burned. He always went back, he always smiled, he had hope bright as the most intense inferno—

—that wasn't who he was anymore. It wasn't who he wanted to be anymore. Who he was in the past didn't matter; it was who he was now. Who is Ryujin Hiyenzo? He asked himself. Instead of somebody who reached out, how about he reached inward? To reach for himself, grab a hold of his own hand and never let himself go.

It felt a little late for that to matter. For the longest, he had no choice in having to rely on himself. He still didn't have much of one right now. How about he truly… embraced it? Still, it felt useless for the point he was in—better late than never, he forced himself to accept.

Ryujin was going to hold on to himself

Ryujin was going to protect himself.

Not because he needed to, finally, because he wanted to.

Once the walls were built, maybe it would be easier to see just who he was protecting… in time.

Only time will reveal who repeated the Sage's name. Only time will reveal who was this dragging corpse about. Only time will reveal what this was, who this was. Only time will reveal the original face before his mother and father.

Only time will reveal… Who was Ryujin Hiyenzo.

—

Sasuke was panting on the floor, his Heavenly Cursed Marks receding back into the seal on his neck. Kusari, on the other hand, stood proud, smirking at the miniature forest of bones that she had created herself. Shinrai, was encased in one of the bones, unable to battle, groaning before he let out a hollow sigh. "Damn."

"According to Shivua's instinct… I'm definitely far from mastering the Dead Bone Pulse," she announced. "But I find it to be at a sufficient level for me to proceed with my plan for the Hyuuga."

"Let me go before you go do anything," Shinrai muttered.

Kusari gave him a raised brow. "Is that how you ask?"

"Please…" he added with a ragged breath.

With a hand sign, the bone that encased Shinrai released him. He stretched and growled from being stuck for… how long was it? A while, relatively.

"Do you plan on coming back?" asked Sasuke, finally getting to his feet.

Kusari pondered. "Eventually… when I'm finished with the Hyuuga."

"How long will that take?"

Kusari shrugged.

Sasuke cursed under his breath. In response, Kusari gave him a dubious look. "You have Shinrai? We're about the same strength, so I don't see how you'll benefit less."

"Feeling Indra is easier with you around," Sasuke said, obviously miffed.

Kusari once again shrugged. "Well, I'll be back. On top of that, Naruto's going to be back eventually… He should be much more effective than I."

Shinrai winced at the mention of his brother.

"Well, I'll see you two around," said Kusari with a smile before turning her back and walking out of the forest. The clash of kunai with Shinrai's blades rang out soon after she left.

Adapting to the Dead Bone Pulse was… an interesting process. Her appetite almost doubled, which was quite unfortunate considering the fact that rations were strict during a time like this. The last time she wasn't hungry was… before Konoha Crush. That was great.

Another thing she had to change was her choice of clothing. Her usual wear of baggy jackets had to be discarded in order to make using her Dead Bone Pulse easier, as well as not ripping her jackets apart every time she decided to train. A Shinobi had to be ready for battle at the drop of a hat, and so she needed something she could battle in at any time.

A slightly armored vest that had been allegedly looted from Kumo seemed to be her best choice. Her go to bones to use were the humerus, radius, and ulna. The ones in her arms. So, having her arms completely exposed seemed to be the best option. Though she couldn't quite access her ribs easily…

Her first thought was to just rip through the backside of the vest once and have a hole in her back. It wasn't like she was going to be pierced by anything with her ribs there. But, because of how the vest was put on, that would just make it unusable and she'd be back at square one. Once Konoha was in a better position, she'd need to order a custom vest for all of her needs.

This dingy Kumo vest had to do for now. The colors were ugly too, a dirty off-white and a desert colored tan. But, that was vain, not her main focus. What was her main focus was going to the Hyuuga Clan.

Right after Konoha Crush, Hinata had made a grand speech of false hope and promises that were going to be broken. It was Kusari's turn to… make her own statement. She would've liked to make herself presentable, but, with her lack of resources and her own self-imposed urgency, she simply couldn't.

That damned vest didn't help.

If she were to indulge in her own vanity, maybe her exposed arms would help? Ever since Shivua's influence became more and more powerful, she'd been gaining muscle like it was nobody's business. It was honestly unfair. Her arms, quite frankly, looked amazing. After she awakened the Dead Bone Pulse, her muscle growth slowed, but it was still more than the average person.

She had the same muscularity that Rock Lee did from just… regular training. Kusari doubted she was as strong as him, but her appearance as someone who looked that way for her publicity stunt was just points in her favor!

Kusari let out a final sigh. Her Byakugan came to life and she spied into the Hyuuga Clan Compound.

Neji still wasn't awake.

Most of the Side Branch was conjugated near the edge, with their backs facing Konoha, being forced to rebuild the Main Branch's home. Of course they would. Hinata was there as well. She was going to see this. Perfect. Before she entered, Kusari paused. She loosened the headband that covered her Caged Bird Seal. She then dropped it to her neck. Her Caged Bird Seal was fully exposed, with the scar the Clanless gave to her on full display.

Kusari picked up her pace and walked quickly into the Hyuuga Clan Compound, where the Main Branch's homes were being rebuilt. Her urgent presence was quickly noted by everybody there. At the moment, the Main Branch's half-built home was a slope of bricks and wood. Kusari stepped on it.

When she did that, all eyes turned to her. She kept stepping until she reached the very top, looking over the stunned Branch Members and the offended Main Branch Members. Half of her hair was bone-white, with the other black half, both were flowing in the wind like two dresses dancing with each other "Hello, members of the Hyuuga Clan. I am Kusari Hyuuga. I wish to speak with you all."

Everybody was quite frankly, too stunned to speak.

"I'm afraid I wasn't there for the Heiress' Speech to you all. I'm sure you all enjoyed it. Based on what I've heard about it, I find it lackluster. Promises and hope mean nothing when there is nobody to show you that." Kusari paused for her words to weigh down on her audience. "Hinata Hyuuga has failed you once before, and frankly, I find it foolish that you went to trust her once again so readily after she let you down in your most trying times.

"Her White Eyes aren't even true to her… but something she gained from the power of Konoha's most despicable criminal. She watches upon you with false White Eyes while not doing a damned thing to help any of you. Hinata Hyuuga is nothing but a shallow and fragile figurehead. To all of you, she's useless." Kusari took a step down from the Main Branch's half-built house. "I am not the same."

She continued her descent until she was on an equal level with every Hyuuga surrounding her. "I am one of you. My eyes are the same as yours. I have the same brand that all of you are cursed with. We are one in the same. I will be the Hope of the Hyuuga Clan that Hinata Hyuuga failed to be. Unlike her, I will not fail you. Unlike her, I will be down here with you doing all of the work, and I will prove it to you, here and now."

Kusari flexed her arms and bones protruded. The crowd gasped at the showing. "This is a power that is special to me. It is called the Dead Bone Pulse. My bones are as far as most Shinobi are concerned, unbreakable." Kusari then made a hand sign. A pillar of bone grew from the ground, next to a recently relocated tree.

By now, many more Hyuuga had come to see the display that Kusari put on. It was hard for Kusari to not wear her joy on her face. "I am going to use an evolved form of the Juken, called Ingoken. Do not replicate this Jutsu unless you want to lose your arm. Only my unique bone structure is capable of withstanding it."

Every Hyuuga activated their Byakugan to see Kusari's display in detail. With one swift palm strike, where Kusari did not hold anything back, she obliterated over half of the tree she chose as her target. "This is how effective wood is against the Ingoken." Kusari then walked to a nearby pile of bricks.

A single Ingoken turned the bricks to dust. "This is how effective stone is against the Ingoken."

The silent fear was starting to concern Kusari. It was too late for her to stop. Finally, she walked up to the pillar of bone that she made. With a grunt, her Ingoken slammed into the pillar. It was… utterly unaffected. Kusari then stuck again, again, and again into her bone pillar and it was unscathed.

"This is how effective my Dead Bone Pulse is against the Ingoken." Kusari allowed a bit of a friendly smile to cross her face. "My reason for showing this to all of you is because I will use my very bones to rebuild the Hyuuga Clan. With the Dead Bone Pulse, I can morph this indestructible material into any shape I please! With my body, with my blood, sweat, tears, and bone I will turn the Hyuuga Clan's Compound into an unbreakable haven for all Hyuuga!

"My soul and my life is in this Clan and even long after I'm dead my body will still be with you all! Nothing is capable of taking me away from all of you! I will never fail, I will never fall, because I am unbreakable." Kusari took a deep breath. "That is… all I have to say."

The silence was loud.

So were the cheers that followed.

Kusari couldn't hold back her grin.

—

Kusari's speech a few hours ago caused quite a stir. As Hinata expected, her father was not pleased. While the Main Branch's meeting room and residences were being rebuilt, they had a temporary private tent where they could meet when needed. For now, it was just Hinata, her father, as well as… Shouko.

"We should imprison her, she's obviously inciting a revolt!" Shouko spat, displeasure radiating off of him like stench from a restroom.

Hiashi shook her head at the proposition. "No, that is far too hasty."

"Something needs to be done, Lord Hiashi!" pushed Shouko. "If she can turn the masses against Lady Hinata, then we'll lose our biggest support!"

"Have you so little faith in my daughter?" Hiashi asked with a glint in his eyes.

Immediately, Shouko backed off. "I meant no disrespect, of course. But, the Hyuuga Clan is already split down the middle! Those who follow Kusari are already calling her Lady Pearl Bones as if she deserves such a title! She looks and acts like a barbarian."

He took a deep breath and clasped his hands together. "I simply believe that Kusari Hyuuga should not be allowed to keep going as she is. We must make an example—"

"—We will do no such thing," spat Hiashi, losing his patience. "But… her hair is half white now… something must be done."

"I don't think so," Hinata said, finally speaking up. Shouko gave her a disbelieving look, while Hiashi gave the same look that he always did. "I have full faith in Kusari to do nothing but help the Hyuuga Clan. Do you know what Kusari has done ever since she made her speech? Hm?"

Shouko narrowed his eyes while Hiashi answered. "Hmph… she did exactly what she said she was going to do."

"Precisely," Hinata affirmed. "Kusari is rebuilding the Hyuuga Clan out of her very own body. It is a feat that nobody else in our clan can replicate. Her dedication and love for the Hyuuga matches my own, that is without question. Recently, Kusari and I had a talk…"

"If I ever become a genuine threat to the safety of the Hyuuga Clan, do not hesitate to kill me."

"...in which I was given the confidence that Kusari is a force for good, which she has proven to be."

Shouko shook his head. "Lady Hinata… you must be forgetting what she is. Kusari is one of the biggest threats to the Hyuuga Clan."

"And what if its mark begins to show? What if its mark overtakes the Hyuuga Clan like it did so long ago," Hiashi pushed, agreeing with Shouko.

Hinata let out a sigh. Forgive me Kusari, if this backfires. "She knows that. Kusari knows what she is and the threat she could pose. That is why she made me promise to her that if she becomes a genuine threat to the Hyuuga Clan, then I must kill her." Blessed Marks spread across Hinata's face and body as her eyes went White.

"I am Bontena," she announced, puffing out her chest and expanding her presence. "Kusari is my responsibility and mine alone. I say that Kusari, as she is, is no threat to us all. We must let her be, to poke the bear would be quite irresponsible, would it? We do not want a repeat of what happened with your Grandfather, Shouko."

Unhappiness crossed Shouko's face and Hinata couldn't bring herself to feel sympathy like she usually did. For Kusari, for her family, Hinata did not mind stepping on more than a few toes.

Hiashi then shook his head and spoke. "Hinata, you do not understand. This goes beyond your conflict with Kusari. It is a matter of Main Branch and Side Branch. Kusari has shaken faith in you, and by proxy, the Main Branch. That will lead to a loss in control."

"It may lead to a loss in control," Hinata corrected. "Most of the Hyuuga Clan still has faith in me, and that is still more than enough to keep balance. To use force to silence this so-called rebellion will only cause more rebellion. If something is to be done, then it must be done by the people.

"We must, I must, defeat Kusari on the ideological front and prove our way to be superior to Kusari's that way, our leadership is the best way for the Hyuuga." Hinata laid out her idea, with her White Eyes scanning both Shouko and her father.

Hiashi's fists clenched hard as he looked up into the sky. Finally, he sighed. "Alright, Hinata. If you say that this is the best way, then I will listen."

Regret and caution rang in his voice in a tone that only Hinata knew him well enough to hear. Distracting her, Shouko let out a defeated sigh and shook his head. "Yes, Lord Hiashi."

"You're dismissed, both of you," Hiashi said.

Shouko left.

Hinata didn't.

"What has you so concerned, Father?"

Hiashi remained silent; the unhearable sound of his stressed pondering filled the air. "I should not say."

"Please, Father," Hinata pushed. "If it is about the Hyuuga, if it is about Kusari, then I must know."

Again, that deafening silence roared from her father—concerned waves within Hinata made her sweat.

The silence was shattered by a single word from Hiashi. "Tokomiya."

"Tokomiya?"

"The constellation we all saw appear, that is its name. It is the Azure Dragon of the East, the opposite of my White Tiger of the West, its direct counter. I have looked at that Dragon every night since it appeared.

"Kusari is more of a threat than you think she is, Hinata…" Hiashi grit his teeth. "I see her face and I see the passion of her father and the love of her mother… with a power that is all her own."

"You believe Kusari has the Tenmei?" asked Hinata, White Eyes focused on her father.

Hiashi shook his head, pointing to the darker shade of lavender in his eyes. "She does not… yet. Kusari will unlock the Tenmei Byakugan… in a fated battle against me."

Hinata's eyes went wide. "You?"

"Indeed. It is my greatest fear that… Kusari will be the end of the Hyuuga Clan. It's already written in the stars. I just pray that the way that I've read them… is wrong."

"Then why do you not push to end her now?" Hinata was horrified to ask that question, but she did anyway.

"I can't. Neji is…" Hiashi shook his head. "With Neji in the state that he's in, the death of Kusari will mean the end of both Hizashi's and Kanda's legacy. I refuse to let that happen."

"So, you will battle against fate for that to happen?"

"Until my very last breath."

His words rang like a gong through the mountain breeze. Hinata took a deep, shaky breath. To hear this from her Father… was concerning. With her composure intact, Hinata gave him a curt nod. "You will prevail against fate, father. As will Kusari."

Hiashi side eyed her before sighing. "You're dismissed, Hinata."

Not another word was spoken as Hinata left.

—

Another day back from training with Kusari and Sasuke. Kusari wasn't going to be coming back. Shinrai didn't know if he wanted to go back. Nothing was doing anything for him.

Training? Cold.

Kusari? Cold.

Sasuke? Cold.

Baiko? Cold.

Yora? Cold.

Miya? Cold.

Naruto… frostbite.

Karin… frostbite.

Everything was making him feel cold or worse. Why wasn't he feeling anything?! Why couldn't he feel anything?! He would take being tortured over this—at least he felt something. At least Shinrai could've wallowed in the agony of his body being surgically ripped apart.

He'd take every day he felt like shit after Yora's death over this. He'd take all the times where he'd have to comfort Naruto on his worst days over this. He'd take every argument with Ryu over this. He'd take being kicked out by Naruto over this. He'd take the ungodly fury against Orochimaru over this. Every worst part of his life was heaven compared to this.

Whywhywhwywhwywhy—WHY CAN'T IT AT LEAST HURT?! Shinrai pushed open his own door he didn't bother to lock when he left. He walked over the bloodstain he never questioned when it appeared a week ago. His eyes drifted to Karin eating a bowl of ramen in the kitchen. She covered everything but her face in black, baggy clothes. Shinrai saw how seeing him made her hurt.

Jealousy within him screamed because he wished he could hurt too. The cold froze over it was colder it was colder it was colder it was colder it was frostbite. This wasn't how he was supposed to hurt—the numbness was unbearable it was so nothing that it hurt so bad. It was so nothing that it hurt. It hurt like nothing did he wished it hurt like something did.

He didn't feel his heart it was just frostbite he didn't feel his lungs it was just frostbite he didn't feel himself it was just frostbite.

Shinrai held back a scream as he bolted into Naruto's room.

The fact that he left his front door open didn't phase him.

In Naruto's room he took Yora out her sheath and peered into the silver metal, grasping onto the midnight hilt with all of his strength. "Yora please." Her chakra whirled with an apology. With his free hand he gripped onto the silver blade, covering her with his blood. Even the pain was numb.

"Yora."

Again her chakra responded but it did nothing. He poured his own chakra into her like he did a thousand times before and she reached out. He didn't feel Yora it was just frostbite. She couldn't help him she couldn't heal him she couldn't make him do anything.

That made the frostbite worse that made the nothing worse. Why couldn't he be angry why couldn't he be sad why couldn't he be ANYTHING BUT THIS?!

This time Shinrai couldn't hold back his frostbitten scream.

—

The sun was just starting its descent into the horizon. Four hours after noon, a week had passed since Lady Tsunade established her bet. A sea-breeze gusted from under the cliff face, blowing against the flat grassy field with a calming chill… perfectly counteracting the summer heat.

Gosei stood by his mother, sister, as well as Naruto and Lord Jiraiya. Each of them facing Lady Tsunade and Shizune. There was a considerable distance between the two of them.

Lady Tsunade had a tired look on her face… almost as if she was against fulfilling her end of the bargain. At least she had the sense of honor to uphold it, regardless of her feelings. It really seemed that she was a gambler at heart.

Shaking her head, Tsunade stepped forward. "Alright! Which one of you brats is gonna fight me first?! Let me make this quick."

Immediately, Naruto stepped back, making a point to keep his right hand concealed. "I'll go last."

Both Gosei and Natsuyo whipped back and stared at him bewildered. That was the most un-Naruto like thing Naruto had ever done—"Are you serious?" asked Gosei.

Naruto just gave him a cheeky grin. "I feel like being nice, so I'm going to give you a chance to show off."

"I told him to," informed Jiraiya with a deadpan look.

Naruto groaned and glared at his sensei. "C'mon Pervy Sage! I was trying to make it look cool!"

"You're not gonna get any cool points leeching off of me."

Naruto kicked a rock and huffed. "Point still stands… you two can go first."

"I'm going first!" announced Gosei and Natsuyo at the same time. They both glared at each other, balling a fist and slamming it onto their open palms.

"GO!" they said in tandem.

Gosei made a rock with his fist.

Natsuyo made a pair of scissors.

"Dammit!" she cursed while Gosei smirked with triumph.

"I will face you, Lady Tsunade!" declared Gosei as he slammed his staff onto the dirt.

Tsunade faked a yawn. "About damn time."

Gosei sucked his teeth and walked forward. Hurriedly, Shizune met up with the other four to get out of the way of the battle. By now, Gosei's wounds from the Kyuubi were effectively healed in their entirety. It proved to be a hurdle in training, but for the past two days, it had not been. There was nothing holding Gosei back any longer. He looked back at his mother. Just meeting her eyes was more pressure to perform than he'd ever felt before.

With a determined glare, Gosei turned back to his opponent. "Are you ready, Lady—?" A finger from Tsunade was in Gosei's face.

With eyes wide, it took all of Gosei's focus to barely dodge the earth shattering flick. Tsunade snorted. "The fight starts the moment you're in front of me."

Gosei sucked his teeth and whirled his staff at Tsunade's side. It collided with her index finger and she flicked it out of Gosei's grip with almost no effort. With that, Gosei weaved a single hand seal. "Lightning Release: Thunder Bullet Storm!" Gosei's body erupted with voltage before it shot out a storm of Thunder Bullets in every direction.

All it took was Tsunade flicking to create a pressure wave that destroyed all of the Thunder Bullets. Gosei cursed—such power—and he wasted no time reclaiming his staff. A half seal and lightning coursed through his Bo Staff. "Lightning Release: Ground Zero Thunder!" He slammed the butt of his staff on the ground.

The earth shook with bolts of lightning shooting from below—the thunder rattled the earth and shattered it into pieces. Even Tsunade lost her footing at that. Gosei smirked and weaved a hand seal. "Earth Release: Massive Bedrock Explosion!"

From directly below Tsunade, the shattering earth erupted and the Slug Sannin was shrouded in dirt and dust. Gosei kept his guard just like he did the proud smirk on his face.

In just one week, Gosei had successfully added Lightning Release to his Godai.

Before he could dwell on his achievement for much longer, he saw the cloud of dust shift. Gosei's guard hardened and before he could do anything, Tsunade's index finger was dug into his back. Earth-shattering force blasted him down and Gosei lost all of his breath.

A grit of his teeth as he wheezed and inhaled. "Water Release: Lakeland Rush…!" An intense stream of water flooded the area—but Tsunade just withstood it like it was just another sea breeze. Using his staff as leverage, Gosei launched himself into the air—he let go of his Staff to weave three quick hand seals before grabbing it again.

The staff erupted with more voltage than ever before. "Lightning Release: Heaven's Bolt!" As if his Bo Staff turned into a thunderbolt, Gosei launched it and the crack of thunder pierced the air. Tsunade, with her single finger, charged up a powerful flick and matched the bolt pound for pound.

Shattered earth split beneath Tsunade's feet while her hair stood on end from the static filling the air. The sheer heat set fire to the grass and finally, Tsunade came out on top as he flicked Gosei's staff to the side. With a few steps, she stood between him and his staff. "Is that all you got, kid? I think I'd expect a bit more from Yosei's eldest."

Gosei huffed, crossing his arms as determination shimmered in his emerald eyes. "And I would've expected much more from you as my relative."

"The fuck is that supposed to mean?!"

"You abandoned everything!" Gosei yelled, his chakra shaking the earth. "I can't understand why—"

"Then you don't get to speak on it," Tsunade spat. "Kids like you are always so naïve. I pray that you learn what's good for you before you get yourself killed."

Her words felt like a shock to his system. Gosei grit his teeth, the earth hardening, the water condensing around him, the static sparking in the air. Was thinking like this going to get him killed?! It shouldn't, it couldn't it went against—dammit.

"Living like you do… is no better than death to me," Gosei declared, weaving his first set of three hand seals. Earth, his best element… it only took eight hand seals. "That is why… I will never give up, never back down, and that is why I will become Hokage." Water, that took ten hand seals.

Tsunade, she clenched her fists—shaken by Gosei's declaration. "You're so ignorant brat—"

"I don't care!" Gosei roared, completing his final set of hand seals. Lightning. Thirteen hand seals. "Tri-elemental attack! Earth Dragon! Water Dragon! Lightning Dragon!"

On Gosei's left, the ground shook—a serpentine beast of earth awakened with a quaking roar and deadly yellow eyes. From the right, the water in the air condensed fully—dryness made Gosei's lips crack as he siphoned all of the water in the vicinity to create his Water Dragon. Above Gosei, sparks cracked and a thunderclap brought the dry air to its knees. A beast of pure voltage with red eyes screeched with power, its serpentine body spreading.

All three dragons glared at Tsunade, who prepared a single finger to take the attack head on. Determination raged behind Gosei's eyes as he pointed his hand like a Lord commanding his army. "Charge!"

The dragons roared. In a flash, the Lightning Dragon already collided with Tsunade's index finger. Static fried the grass—made the dirt smoke while the Sannin's hair stood once again. A sudden splash shocked Tsunade's entire body—she visibly jolted from the water that covered her. On top of that, the sheer force to two elemental dragons pushed her back. Right then, the skin on Tsunade's index finger began to peel.

Even behind the voltage and waves, Tsunade saw a flash of earth behind the two other dragons. The Earth Dragon may have been the slowest, but it had the most force by far. From holding back the two dragons, Tsunade's finger bled—and if the third dragon were to make impact—

—the moment it, did all three dragons boomed into elemental dust. Earth shattered, water splashed, and lightning fizzled out. Gosei's heart sank into his chest—"Was that not enough?!" he couldn't help but question out loud.

The smoke cleared and Tsunade's fingers were out in a flick. Not one. But two. Tsunade's middle finger had joined her index finger. She needed it… she needed it against him.

Gosei had done it.

I did it. I made her use a second finger! A proud grin that curled like a smirk crossed Gosei's face. "You used a second finger! I won the bet!"

"Shit!" cursed Tsunade. "Now I gotta go back to that damned village—"

"You're a woman of your word, are you not, Lady Tsunade?!" asked Gosei with the glint of victory shining in his eye.

Tsunade let out a tired sigh. "Unfortunately." She began to walk back alongside Gosei—

—"Hey we didn't fight yet!" Naruto and Natsuyo yelled out the same time.

Naruto grinned in a way that reminded Gosei of Shinrai. "I'm gonna make you use all ten fingers and toes, remember!"

Tsunade let out a louder, much more tired sigh. "Fine! You two, let's get this over with."

With that, Gosei and Natsuyo walked past each other. Just as they met, Gosei placed a hand on his sister's shoulder. "Enjoy your time ahead of me, Natsuyo. It won't last long."

"Of course I'm going to enjoy something that'll last forever." The siblings met each other's eyes and they glared with competitive sparks erupting between them. Afterward, they chuckled and continued in their separate directions.

Gosei stopped next to his mother, where Natsuyo once stood in line beside Naruto. The Uzumaki in question gave him a crooked grin. "That was wicked cool, Gosei! Having three Changes in Chakra Nature is a Jonin thing, y'know?"

A proud smirk crossed his face. "I appreciate it, Naruto. I'm truly looking forward to what has you so confident, however."

Naruto giggled and even Jiraiya gained an excited smirk.

Afterward, Gosei's gaze zero'd in on Natsuyo and—his mother placed a hand on his shoulder, looking down at him. Was that a smile on her face?

"Yes, mother?"

"Gosei, that was magnificent. You've made me proud, my son."

No amount of pride and composure could hide the childish, dumb grin that came across his face. "Thank you, mother!"

"Of course, my son." Her hand slid off his shoulder.

With fire in his mind, body, and soul, Gosei set his full sights on Natsuyo's match. Show me what you've got, Natsuyo!

—

It was less exciting facing down her 'idol' after what happened a week ago. Natsuyo was over it in the fact that she didn't feel bad about it all the time, but whenever she saw Tsunade, yeah, she felt bad. But, hey… maybe beating her up would help. Natsuyo was going to burn away every lie that Tsunade was.

Surprisingly serious, Natsuyo made the Tiger Seal. "Show me who you are, Lady Tsunade."

Tsunade snorted. "Oh, someone's mad."

"Scorch Release: Sunsprite!" Golden scorch screamed into a fiery ball in front of Natsuyo. Immediately, Tsunade put up her non-injured index to guard. Natsuyo's hand whirled the ball across the sky toward Tsunade.

Instead of blocking it, Tsunade dodged. The sphere made a sharp right to track down Tsunade who kept her distance. A half seal and Natsuyo yelled, "Flare!" A whip of scorch spewed from the ball and Tsunade was lashed across the arm.

She seethed from the scorching pain and Natsuyo's smirked. I got her! A full hand seal this time. "Nova!" Right after lashing Tsunade, the ball swelled. It went from gold, to orange, to red. It blew up like a balloon and Tsunade stepped away—BOOM!

Natsuyo's sun went off in a miniature nova. The ground below turned to ash—soot and burns covered Tsunade from being too close. "You mother—"

"Scorch Release: Superheat Summer Downpour!" Natsuyo breathed and huffed out scorching raindrops of the most deadly flames. It was too wide-spread for Tsunade to dodge. With a glare, Tsunade flicked the air, creating a deadly pressure wave that combated Natsuyo's scorch. A second pressure wave dispersed it all together.

"Scorch Release!" Natsuyo condensed her scorch into a miniature ball before throwing it up into the air. "Scorching Sun Shower!" From above, Natsuyo's flames descended. It was raining miniature suns. Tsunade cursed, slamming her index finger into the ground. The earth rose up to combat the fire—creating a shield of rock.

Natsuyo's eyes went wide as Tsunade disappeared. They shut once again the moment Tsunade landed a flick to Natsuyo's nose. "You're a troublesome little brat, aren't you!"

"And you're an annoying ass bitch!" Natsuyo yelled, clenching her fist.

Tsunade gasped with rage and offense. "What did you just call me—?"

"DOWNPOUR!" Natsuyo ordered. Her scorch melted through the rock above Tsunade and she paled as both lava and scorch descended upon her. Natsuyo leapt back, weaving hand seals. "Scorch Release: Zepheral Solar Storm!" The scorch whirled like desert winds set alight—blasting Tsunade with almost hellish heat. She was almost as hot as that Nibi Jinchuriki.

Tsunade—before the fires could hit her—used her middle finger, blasting everything with her most powerful flick yet. A crater smoked with dust and fire as Tsunade glared at Natsuyo. "I used a second finger, you're done!"

"That's not enough!" shouted Natsuyo as she inhaled, using another Zepheral Solar Storm and firing it at Tsunade. The Slug Sannin glared as she weaved out of the way of the attack. Only to meet Natsuyo's leg with her index.

Tsunade scoffed. "Oh?! You wanna make this close range?! Against me?!"

Golden fire roared from Natsuyo's fist as she hurled it at Tsunade. "FIRE PUNCH!" A quick cock of her head and the flames did nothing but lick Tsunade's skin. With her middle finger, she flicked Natsuyo to the smoldering earth below, but she got right back up despite the blood coming from her lips.

Wind blasted from the Kunai that Natsuyo pulled—Tsunade snapped it in half before it could be used. A dozen shuriken whirled from Natsuyo's pouch. She made sure to cover them with blades of wind before making them scorch.

Scorching Shuriken buzzed toward Tsunade and another pressure flick disabled them all. Natsuyo growled and glared through two hand seals. "Scorch Release: Desert Rebirth Vortex!" In the shape of wind, scorch whirled into a tornado as tall as a building. Ash replaced dust as the dryness of the air killed the grass before it ignited.

Of course, it barreled toward none other than Tsunade of the Sannin. "Girl, what the fuck is your problem?!"

"YOU!" Natsuyo's anger only made the vortex scorch more violently.

Tsunade sucked her teeth and used a massive two-finger flick to combat the jutsu. It only went out halfway—balls of scorch leapt off of it and Tsunade was forced to dodge them all. The heat from all of the scorch was starting to singe Tsunade's clothing—hell even the tips of her hair were black.

A second two finger flick blasted the vortex away entirely and the shockwave thrusted Natsuyo across the ground. Burns and scrapes and bruises were spotted all over Natsuyo like a leopard's fur. Her fist slammed into the ground before she got up and outstretched that same, bleeding fist.

It was time to burn Tsunade away in her entirety. Where fire would've coated her fist, scorch did. Just like it did against Rock Lee, the scorch spread until Natsuyo was consumed entirely. Natsuyo took on the appearance of a scorching corpse, a being from the very core of the sun walking amongst the living.

Flames that should've been hellish in appearance only imitated the spirit of heaven. Layers and layers of scorch condensed until the fire turned into her very skin. Tsunade's eyes sharpened. Lava pooled beneath Natsuyo's feet, heat waves belted in the crater that Tsunade created in the ground.

Even the spectators felt like they were in Suna's worst summer just being near Natsuyo.

"Scorch Release. Divine Agni Attack."

Like a shooting star, Natsuyo launched toward Tsunade and of course, the Sannin took her head on. Her two fingers blasted against the full force of Natsuyo's scorching attack. Before long, both of Tsunade's fingers began to blacken. Her eyes went wide but Natsuyo screamed, empowering her attack even more.

With her teeth grit, Tsunade called upon her ring finger. Three of Tsunade's fingers launched Natsuyo to the other side of the crater. An eruption of scorch and fire made a chamber of lava where Natsuyo landed before long. The entirety of the scorch that once surrounded her was gone.

Tsunade weaved a hand seal and blew, wind cooling the lava to black glass. With a finger, she shattered it; the sun beamed on Tsunade's back as she looked down on Natsuyo. "There, I used three. You satisfied now?"

All Natsuyo responded with was the clench of her fist and the grit of her teeth.

With a deadpan look, Tsunade asked. "Alright kid, what the hell is your problem with me?! Did your mother shit talk me that much?!"

"You just…" Natsuyo could barely get the words out. "Have you ever looked up to somebody?"

Tsunade furrowed her brow. "Looked… up to somebody." She went silent, pondering. "I guess… when I was your age I looked up to the Hokage. The only two at that point were Grandfather and Grand-uncle so… didn't have much of a choice."

Natsuyo almost felt a spark of… wonder in her eyes. It was killed by reality. "You don't respect them that much anymore, do you?"

"Fuck no," Tsunade said with a snort.

Natsuyo rolled her eyes. "I feel the same way about you."

"Oh… uh… cool?" Tsunade shrugs. "I don't get your point. Everyone has dirt. It's only a matter of time before those you look up to show you how shitty they are."

"But… I don't want to believe that you are who you are right now!" Natsuyo finally managed to sit up. "I think… I believe that the Lady Tsunade I can look up to is still there! I know that the Lady Tsunade that a whole village can love and believe in no matter what is still there! I just…" Natsuyo clenched her fists. "I don't have anything to prove that. I just have a feeling in my gut, that's all…"

Tsunade looked stunned for about a second before she shook her head and laughed. "Wow, you're naive, aren't you?"

Natsuyo didn't answer.

Tsunade let out a tired sigh. "Well, c'mon, let's get out of here because I still have one more of you I need to fight."

"Alright," muttered Natsuyo as she got up.

Tsunade broke the black glass and the sun beamed down on both of them. "By the way, Natsuyo…" The Sannin looked back at her with the sun shining into Natsuyo's brown eyes. "Of all the brats I've seen fight in my time, you're definitely one of the stronger ones."

As much as Natsuyo expected it to do the opposite… the praise made her heart soar. "Thank you… Lady Tsunade."

With that, the two walked out of the mini cavern, then into the crater, and up and out before meeting up with the rest of the group. Yosei had a distinct smirk on her face from watching the battle. "How many fingers, Tsunade?"

She rolled her eyes. "Three."

"Three?!" questioned Gosei. "Dammit!"

"You know I'm stronger than you now, Gosei!" Natsuyo said with a laugh.

Gosei grumbled and crossed his arms.

Naruto, on the other hand, laughed, wiping the sweat from his brow. "Damn Natsuyo! That was really hot!"

"Thanks!" she said, having a proud smile.

Jiraiya snickered for some reason.

Finally, Tsunade looked Naruto dead in the eyes. "Alright, Naruto Uzumaki, make me use all ten fingers like you said you would."

A sick grin crossed Naruto's face. It was almost as if the spirit of his battle-loving brother possessed him. "You better believe I will!"

—

Naruto walked with Tsunade—and everyone else—to a different part of the grassy field that didn't have a massive crater in the middle. From there, he stretched and flared his orange chakra in a crazy aura.

Tsunade seemed to be somewhat curious with what he was doing. Instead of looking at her, he looked back at Gosei. "Oi! Gosei! This is why I'm gonna be Hokage and you're not!"

The Senju boy scoffed in response. "Then stop hyping it up and just show it!"

"You don't gotta tell me twice…" Naruto muttered. He crossed his fingers and yelled, "Super Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Eight super clones of Naruto appeared in a ring, a circle of Narutos. On each of their right hands… was the Fusion Seal, just like the original had. They all held hands.

"Fusion Seal, activate!" all nine Narutos yelled.

Tsunade shook her head. "If this were a real battle, you'd be dead."

"Shut up! It's still a work in progress!" The original yelled. Crimson chakra whirled around Naruto and all of his clones. One joint chakra system made from nine Narutos. Before long, all had boiling chakra seep from them. Naruto was so focused on himself that he could barely register the looks of everyone watching.

Time to see how well your Jutsu will work, Naruto.

With that, Kyuubi roared and all of the Naruto's were flooded with chakra. The moment that happened, the clones weaved a joint hand seal—the Ram. "Wrath of Inari!"

A massive pop and everything became dead silent. White smoke from the Transformation Jutsu clouded the area. Silence became louder and thicker and harder—then it was shattered. A roar that Yosei immediately recognized rang out.

The roar of the Kyuubi.

Where smoke once was—there was a beast. A fox that stood on the legs of a man with clawed arms to match. Its fur was a flashing yellow, its slitted eyes a piercing azure. Four tails wildly waved from the fox's behind. Its stature was hulking at over ten feet tall.

The fox looked at its yellow, clawed hands, observing them, balling and unballing them. Then… it laughed. It laughed. "RI RID IT! RIT RORKED! RIT RORKED!" it yelled out in an undeniably monstrous voice. A monstrous voice that belonged to none other than Naruto Uzumaki.

Jiraiya let out a laugh like that of a child.

—

As Jiraiya cackled, Yosei didn't waste a second before entering Sage Mode. Her eyes then went wide. "That's Four Tails worth of Kyuubi Chakra!"

"It's what?!" Gosei questioned, glare sharp with fear.

Natsuyo immediately paled.

Jiraiya waved his hands. "Hey! Don't worry, Naruto is in complete control." A real proud smirk crossed the Sannin's face. "The Wrath of Inari. It's a lot of moving parts. First of all, when there are multiple minds, multiple wills repressing the Kyuubis, it's easier to control. With Naruto's Shadow Clones, he can create multiple hard ass heads to combat the Kyuubis. Shinrai made a variant of the Jutsu where he used seals to reinforce the body of the clones. So, Naruto learned that and those are the clones used.

"Second of all, he used Shinrai's Fusion Seal in order to connect his will with that of his clones, it's the glue that holds the Jutsu together. And finally, the transformation. Naruto theorized that if he transformed into a body that was built to handle the Kyuubi's Chakra, a la the Kyuubi itself, then he'd be able to handle the Kyuubi's Chakra battle by proxy."

Jiraiya chuckled. "All of that combined birthed the Wrath of Inari, Naruto's ultimate move."

"I see…" all three Senju said at once. "How is his control…?" asked Natsuyo a bit nervously.

"He has full sentience in that form, of course!" Jiraiya boasted. "Though… he may have trouble expressing it. Also because it is the Kyuubi's Chakra, and the Jutsu itself isn't one-hundred percent complete, he has a time limit. It's a matter of time before he loses himself to the Kyuubi. But, he knows that limit and how to act on it."

"That's a relief," Natsuyo said with a breath.

Gosei nodded. "Indeed… mother, if Naruto somehow does lose control, would you be able to take him down while you're weakened?"

Yosei scoffed. "Of course I will. A four-tailed cloak is perfectly manageable for me. However, if he goes into the higher levels of version two… I may need assistance."

"It won't get to that point!" Jiraiya said with a wave of his hand.

"I know it won't," muttered Yosei.

With that, everyone turned their attention to the battle between Naruto and Tsunade.

—

There was no use holding back against something like this. Tsunade's fist pumped with chakra as she slammed it into Naruto's foxy chest. He… took the blow. He took the fucking blow—and he countered with his own. A clawed fist rattled Tsunade's face and she stumbled back, wiping blood from her mouth. "No fucking way…"

"RIM RONNA RICK RUOR RASS! RANNY RURADE! RERIEVE RIT!" declared Naruto with a sick, foxy grin.

Tsunade scrunched her face. "The hell did you just say?!"

Naruto let out a triumphant roar and leapt into the air. With another pump of chakra Tsunade punched the air—meeting the force, Naruto roared himself. Two intense waves of air pressure rocked the air and made the cliff face quake. With a hammering thud, Naruto landed his foot on Tsunade's shoulder—the wound burned. A claw slash drew blood, Tsunade's kick pushed Naruto back, his toothy snout bit into Tsunade's leg.

She growled at the burning pain of the fox's bite. Pulling her leg up, it launched Naruto into her prepared fist. He was blasted back—and then it was Tsunade's turn to leap into the air. "Heavenly Kick of Pain!" she battlecried. Tsunade's heel landed directly on Naruto's skull and the ground beneath shattered for dozens of meters.

However, Naruto did not. With his entire form trembling, Naruto growled. Then, Naruto roared. The sheer force of sound boomed and the earth below further shattered from just the sheer force. A yellow blur matched Tsunade as she leapt away from Naruto.

They met and a cataclysmic Taijutsu clash turned shattered earth to sand then to dust and somehow even less. Each hit cracked like thunder and both fighters showed zero signs of slowing down.

Unfortunately for Naruto, even years of rusted experience was far beyond him. Tsunade's mountain-breaking fists blasted through Naruto's offense and he was pushed all the way back. A smirk crossed the Sannin's face as she yelled, "Heavenly Spear Foot!" A pounce from Tsunade and she concentrated power into the ball of her foot that sent Naruto skipping over shattered earth like a stone on a lake.

His claws dug into the dust to stop him as he growled. It seemed that whatever hide he had mitigated tons of damage. Naruto stood right back up. With fire in his azure eyes, Naruto tried to weave hand signs. He couldn't. It was impossible for him to coordinate hand seals with his animalistic hands and lack of true control.

Tsunade wasn't going to stoop so low as to use Ninjutsu on a Genin. This was already going too far. An earth shattering roar created a miniature wind storm that did nothing but mess up Tsunade's already terribly messed up hair even more.

She sucked her teeth. This kid…

Naruto roared, his eyes less blue, almost kind of purple? On top of that, his fur was losing its yellow hue, going into orange.

He really is something else.

Once again, Naruto and Tsunade clashed. Naruto was slipping and they both knew that. His attacks were sloppy, even more feral than they were before. Even still, it was undoubtedly the same brat as before.

Tsunade caught his fist before he drew more blood and slammed him onto the ground. This was by far the most intense battle with a kid that she's ever had in her life. Which was saying a lot considering she used to spar with Yosei when she was much younger. That lifetime seemed like a fucking eternity ago to her.

Naruto… was starting to bring her back.

Another slam to the ground, his fox face slamming into the ground right by her foot. Just as Tsunade lifted him up—he grabbed on and lifted her too. It caught her off guard, she lost her footing. Cackling and roaring, Naruto slammed her around like a ragdoll. A triumphant final, almost malicious roar boomed as he flung her into the ground with both hands.

"...You mother fucker—!" Tsunade charged both of her legs with Chakra and launched them into Naruto's gut. He crashed away across the dirt. Naruto cried out, holding his head, Tsunade narrowed her eyes. His fur was flashing from orange to yellow, orange to yellow, orange to yellow, the Chakra was too much.

…Or was it. A final roar, that despite the fox-like sound, it was distinctly human. Yellow fur and azure eyes—determined eyes… Nawaki's eyes. An indomitable spirit erupted out of Naruto, separate from the monstrous spirit being suppressed—Dan's spirit.

Tsunade blinked, almost shaken because Naruto was just too damned recognizable. Naruto Uzumaki found a way to harness the Kyuubi's power better than any Jinchuriki other than Killer Bee she'd heard of or seen. He was outside the box, he wasn't like anybody else… he was an anomaly in the absolutely best way possible.

With that… her eyes went wide.

Dan, Nawaki… you must've sent these three after me for a reason, eh? She looked back at Natsuyo and Gosei for a second. The unwillingness to give in, the sheer power of their minds and of their ability… they weren't going to go out before they were supposed to.

Each generation was guaranteed to surpass the one before it… that was what sensei always said. If this wasn't proof of it, Tsunade didn't know what was.

They weren't going to die meaninglessly, not a single one of them.

And… Tsunade had to make sure of that.

Plus, she had a bet to keep.

Naruto roared one last time, vermillion chakra whirling in his hands. He was trembling, with his Rasengan struggling to form. That was until Naruto opened his mouth. Like he was a Bijuu, he formed the Rasengan in his mouth and it came out perfectly.

Tsunade of course, prepared her fist.

Both of them blurred toward each other. A fissure split beneath them—soon after the crack of their impact snapped through the air. Tsunade's fist was being utterly shredded by Naruto's Bijuu-like Rasengan. It was only a matter of time before the rest of her arm followed suit.

That was until, of course, Tsunade closed her eyes. The diamond sealed closed on her forehead… opened. Naruto's Rasengan burst and just her fist colliding with his chest made the transformation pop. The Kyuubi's chakra faded into boiling bubbles and Naruto in his human body landed on the ground with a thud.

"Ow…" muttered Naruto, looking… shockingly undamaged despite boxing with a Sannin.

Once this Jutsu is perfected… it might actually have no drawbacks, muttered Tsunade as all of her wounds mended themselves like it was nothing. Once they did, Tsunade sealed her stored chakra once again.

"Naruto Uzumaki," Tsunade began. "You… are… something else."

"Damn right I am!" he cheered, sitting up in a heartbeat. "I made you use all ten fingers, didn't I?! You know what that means for the bet?! You're going to Konoha to stay!"

"Yeah, I know," said Tsunade… less irritated about it than she would've been a week ago. "After fighting you three brats, it doesn't seem that bad."

Jiraiya's eyes went wide, coming over with everybody else. "Did that just come out of your mouth?!"

"You're gonna make me take it back," Tsunade said, deadpanned.

Jiraiya put his hands up defensively. "Hey, hey! I didn't mean it like that."

Tsunade rolled her eyes, then made eye contact with Yosei. Silence reigned between the two. The Hokage broke it. "I'm happy you've come to your senses, Tsunade."

Emotionless. Just as it always had been… Yosei was never the same after the Second War. Not that Tsunade could blame her. "You're definitely going to make me take it back."

Yosei just looked away and walked toward Naruto. "I have half the nerve to promote you to Chunin based off of that alone, Naruto Uzumaki. With a bit more practice, you'll become more effective as a Jinchuriki than Hiyenzo."

"Damn, really?" asked Naruto, shaking his head. "Sounds kinda… off? I mean, it takes me forever to set up Wrath of Inari, y'know…"

"That's why I said with practice."

Naruto chuckled. "Yeah…"

Right after, Natsuyo bolted up to Naruto and started shaking him. "Naruto! That was amazing! You took on Lady Tsunade blow for blow!"

"Yeah…" agreed Gosei, shaking his head. "This is far more than I ever expected from you at this rate." His fists clenched over his Bo Staff. "I have too much catching up to do."

Naruto was almost flustered. "Ehheh! Yeah! I did! Gosei, maybe learn Sage Mode, then you can fight me, eh?!"

"It's on my list of things to learn, of course." Gosei looked up, meeting Naruto's eyes. "You are truly spectacular, Naruto Uzumaki."

"Yes!" agreed Natsuyo. "You're the coolest guy I've ever met!"

Naruto's flustered grin grew more and more and he laughed. "Thank you!"

The children's laughter was interrupted by Jiraiya. "Well, with all of that taken care of, let's head home, shall we? I'm sure Miya is tired of waiting on us."

"Yeah! Let's all head home! Believe it!" announced Naruto.

Everybody else agreed, and set off with their backs facing the setting sun.

—

It had been a week. It had been a week; why weren't they back?! Miya groaned in the Hokage's seat. The entire funeral hinged on Yosei being there to top it off with her coordination as Hokage, and if it happened too long after, the point may have been made dull. Plus, as much good as she was doing as Hokage, she couldn't personally go to the people she cared for—especially when they needed it most, like now.

Shinrai.

Hinata.

Kiba.

Lee.

All of them needed her and all she was here doing was signing off on Danzo's papers to make it look like she did everything when she didn't. At this point, she was barely reading them. As much as she disagreed with him, he would never do anything to sabotage Konoha's progress in the slightest.

Being the Hokage was definitely not suited for her, not at all. It was… always Ryu's thing. She hadn't seen him in forever. Dantai said he had him handled, and that he wasn't… threatening at all. But of course, Miya's paranoia didn't let her believe that one-hundred percent.

She wanted to make sure Ryu was okay herself. But, Miya knew that her presence would make everything worse for Ryu. Miya let out a sigh. If there were anymore delays, then she would've been informed by now. They'll be back soon.

Once they came, everything would fall right back into place.

…and there was a knock on the office door.

"Enter," Miya said in her formal voice.

Dantai tap danced into the room.

With her barely registering it, the formality broke as Dantai said, "Hey, babygirl."

"Don't call me that," Miya warned, rolling her eyes playfully. "What are you here for?"

"Uh, you see, something needs Ms. Lady Hokage's attention!" Dantai informed with an animated gasp.

Miya shook her head and chuckled. "Is it urgent?"

"No, but, the sooner you check it out, the better."

Honestly, Miya needed something to break the monotony of the day. She sat up from her desk and walked toward Dantai as an excited grin spread across his face. He looked like a schoolboy about to ask out his crush.

As Miya stood by him, he held out his hand. She blinked. Did he expect her to take it?! Instead, Miya crossed her arms. "What the hell are you up to?!"

Playful hurt of a theatrical kind washed over Dantai's face. "Nothing! Absolutely nothing at all!"

Miya shook her head and followed him out the door. Once they were out, he flickered to a nearby half-built rooftop. I thought… this wasn't urgent. Another exasperated sigh and Miya followed him again.

The direction they were going was immediately familiar. It was toward her house? The hell? Probably a coincidence.

It wasn't.

There was a crowd of people outside of her house. And it wasn't half destroyed? It was… fine. As a matter of fact, it looked like it did the day she first brought it. Black and purple paint and all… no wear and tear, it was pristine.

Dantai landed next to… Kakashi?! He had a devious smile plastered across his face while Kakashi had his usual eye-smiling demeanor.

Miya landed in front of the two, with the crowd around cheering at her presence.

"Hey, Lady Fourth and a half!" greeted Kakashi with a wave.

Miya blinked in disbelief, barely there as she responded back with, "Hi…"

Dantai took center stage. "Y'know! Us as a community all realized that you've been working hard as hell for the past few weeks as our standing Hokage! You've been helping all of us as much as you can with the most beautiful smile ever! So, we all—especially me—decided to show our appreciation by rebuilding your home for you! We didn't look through any of your stuff, I promise!"

…What the fuck. Miya couldn't believe her eyes, ears, mouth, nose—anything! The crowd of Konoha citizens that she helped all cheered as loud as they could. Rounds of applause with whistles of appreciation erupted from the couple dozens of people.

Had Miya not lived the life of a Shinobi, she would've started crying on the spot. Even still, she couldn't help the small twinge of embarrassment on her face. "You… you didn't have to do this!"

"I know! But we wanted to," Kakashi assured. "You deserve nice things!"

"I could've said it better myself, but he said it first," said Dantai with a smirk.

Kakashi rolled his visible eye.

Miya covered her face with her hands and let out a deep breath. She put her hands down by her side and faced everybody who stood there. "Thank you! All of you! I truly appreciate this… I was only doing my duty to all of you by helping you, and I will never forget this act of kindness!"

"Yeah! You better not!" Dantai yelled.

Trying to stay professional around him was as easy as trying to shatter a mountain with a cotton ball. She gave him a quick roll of her eyes before walking up to her house. With her old key, she unlocked it… the door opened for her to see it was as good as new. It was shining… exactly how she kept it day to day.

At that point, Miya pinched herself to see if she was dreaming or not.

Nope. It was reality.

Never in her life did she expect to be rewarded like this, but… it was nice. It was really nice. Some evil part of herself wanted to say she didn't deserve it, but honestly? She did work her damned ass off right next to everyone else. She deserved a place to fully relax. But, so did everyone else. She didn't need special treatment.

What she was worried about was—Dantai threw his arm around her and whispered, "Don't worry, I got something planned for Ryu too."

Her eyes went wide. "How did you—?"

"Because I know you!"

Miya shook her head again, surprisingly unbothered by Dantai's arm around her. "This was your idea, wasn't it?"

"Of course!"

"Thank you."

Dantai looked into Miya's eyes strongly and said, "If there's anything you ever need from me, then I'm right here."

It felt like a mallet slapped her across the face. The difference was that it was a slap that she needed. When was the last time someone said that to her?

…Ryu said that.

A letter that he sent to her… that she never replied to. Shortly after the Kyuubi attack.

When was the last time someone said that to her and she believed it?

Kushina…

…and now. Hell, Dantai had proved himself right here and now. To think he could go through so many years of non-stop torture and come out the otherside unchanged on the surface. As a matter of fact, Miya didn't remember him being this kind.

He frankly had no reason to organize all of this.

But, he did anyway.

Miya let out a sigh before facing him fully and wrapping her arms around him. He jumped at the contact, but it lasted for a few seconds before she pulled back. The fact that she didn't have her head hanging over him felt weird. It was rare finding people taller than her. "Thanks… again."

"You… you never gave me a hug before!"

Miya rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "You never made me want to give you a hug before."

Dantai chuckled, fixing his hair as red colored his face. "Fair enough…" He cleared his throat, grabbing the doorknob and outstretching his hand. "I could walk you back to the Hokage's Tower if you'd like?"

Miya smiled and shook her head. "No thanks, I want to double check everything first."

"Gotcha! Bye bye pretty girl!"

For what seemed like the thousandth time, Miya rolled her eyes. "Goodbye, Dantai."

He left her home without another word.

—

Over the past week, Baiko was told about the… basic parts of the Shinobi World. Mostly from Kabuto, Lord Orochimaru was still injured. But, according to Lord Orochimaru, Baiko was in the Land of Lightning. It was another one of the evil nations, it was one he betrayed during his invasion of Konoha. He took one of their Jinchuriki… then he lost it. Lord Orochimaru seemed really angry about that… so much that he wouldn't even tell him exactly what happened.

Kabuto still had to heal Lord Orochimaru from the damage that Konoha dealt to him. So, Baiko was just… left to himself. At least he could experiment with his new eyes… Byaku-Sharingan? Baiko didn't honestly care what they were called. As long as they were powerful, as long as they could help him save Shinrai and destroy the Five Evil Nations. Even though it was dark underground, his eyes made everything look as bright as daytime. Whenever he saw people, he could see inside of them. Not just that, he saw through all of the walls inside of the underground base that he was in. On top of that, it was like he could never forget what he saw, it never left his memory at all. It was… cool, yes, cool, that was how Baiko would describe it.

What was better was that he could feel his Chakra leap whenever he used it. Mother and Father taught him how to use his Chakra a little bit, but they didn't get to use much after they were killed. With a hard breath, Baiko choked down the anger. Thinking about Konoha made him angry, thinking about Shinrai made him angrier… to think he was so close to joining such an evil group of people—and that the brother he was supposed to protect grew up there… it was infuriating.

As Baiko walked, as Baiko looked around Lord Orochimaru's Land of Lightning base… he eventually saw something. He saw water but it wasn't like regular water. Was there… somebody inside the water? No… somebody was the water! A person's chakra, it was blue, it had points of chakra all throughout a tube of water. That was… weird, Baiko had never heard of a water person like this before.

Curiosity got the better of him as he walked toward the water. Once he reached the water, a face formed up against glass. It was a guy's face, he was really pale with icy-colored hair… he also had a sharp tooth sticking out of his mouth. "Hey! You!"

Baiko's face scrunched. "Hi…?"

"Let me out!" he called. "I've been in here for years! It sucks!"

"Uh…" Baiko titled his head. "Who put you in there?"

"Orochimaru! Who the fuck else would?!"

Baiko frowned. "That isn't a nice word…"

"Boo-fucking-hoo! Just get me out of here!"

"Uh…" Baiko shook his head. "Why did Lord Orochimaru put you there?!"

"For fuck's sake—" The water boy shook his head. "He said 'I was too much trouble' so now I'm in here!"

"Why were you so much trouble?"

"Why do you ask so many fucking question?!"

"I don't wanna let out anybody evil…" muttered Baiko. "Are you evil?"

"...Man… have you lived?! You act like a fucking five-year old."

"I only woke up a week ago… before that I was five."

"Wow. You haven't lived." The water boy laughed. "That's fucking crazy!"

"You're saying a lot of bad words… I think you're evil."

"Cussing doesn't make you evil! Dumbass!"

"I don't think I'm going to let you out of there."

"Nono—wait! Please!"

"Why should I let you out, then?" asked Baiko dubiously.

The water boy grinned. "Because I'm not evil! And Orochimaru was really mean to me for trapping me for so long, y'know?! So by letting me out, you'd be doing something right!"

"Lord Orochimaru wouldn't do anything wrong!"

"Dude… Orochimaru is one of the most evil mother fuckers in this world."

"No he's not! How dare you say that!" Baiko yelled, glaring at the water boy with his special eyes.

The water boy groaned. "Okay, maybe I misunderstood him or something. He could be a great guy for all I know!"

"He is! He saved me from Konoha! The people who killed my parents and took my brother!"

"Oh, damn…" The water boy put on a sad expression. "Sorry that happened to you."

Baiko just looked down and clenched his fists.

"I think that's something we have in common!"

"What?" asked Baiko, looking up at the water boy.

"Konoha killed my brother!" announced the water boy.

"That's terrible!" growled Baiko.

The water boy nodded. "Uh huh! And if you let me out, we could like… bond over that! Yeah!"

"...Alright," Baiko said, pensively. "Are you sure you won't cause any more trouble?"

"You have my word!" said the water boy, making a thumbs up with a pale hand that formed in the water.

Baiko nodded. "Alright." He then looked at the tube, dubious. "Uh… how do I let you out?"

The water boy rolled his eyes. "See that red button right there?"

Baiko looked down at the tube, seeing a red button on the bottom. "Press it?"

"Yep!"

Baiko pushed the button with his foot. The glass of the tube went down into the ground and all of the water spilled, with water boy cheering as he spilled onto the floor. Soon after, the water formed into a human shape. Water boy made a body for himself, out of water? He didn't have any clothes on… and it looked like he had underwear made of water on.

"Alright… you got any clothes?"

Baiko shook his head.

"Shit."

Stretching at his leg, Baiko asked, "What's your name?"

"Oh? Huh, yeah, Suigetsu! Suigetsu Hozuki."

Baiko put on a smile. "Nice to meet you! I'm Baiko… Uzumaki."

"Oh, Uzumaki? Cool… Well, thanks for freeing me, Baiko."

"...Are we friends now?"

"Huh? Friends?"

"Yeah! We know each other's names, and I helped you, that means we're friends, right?" asked Baiko with his smile growing.

Suigetsu gave him a deadpanned look. "Y'know what, sure man. Let's be friends."

"Yay!" Baiko cheered before jogging beside Suigetsu. "Let's go find you some clothes, alright?"

"Alright."

With that, the two new friends set out on their clothing quest.

—

It had taken too long for him to get to a non-injured state… Over a week of Kabuto's healing was what made him able to walk without assistance. Orochimaru had no access to his Chakra, let alone his arsenal of Jutsu thanks to Ryujin and Sarutobi-sensei and even Shinrai.

In front of him, the candle light illuminated off of Kabuto's classes, hiding his eyes as he clasped his hands. "What do you plan to do now, Lord Orochimaru?"

"I need to get my Jutsu back," Orochimaru clenched his fists and hissed from the pain. "The Reaper Death Seal sealed away the part of my soul in my arms. That Rasenova that Ryujin used… it completely destroyed my Chakra network. Only something that can heal the soul will be able to reverse the damage to my arms."

"Will you try to capture the Nibi again?" asked Kabuto.

Orochimaru shook his head. "No. Since Hidan took the Jinchuriki we had for himself, we're in no state to start a conflict with Kumo. Even without Killer Bee, Kumo still matched Konoha's military might blow for blow. The damage to my Chakra Network, however… can still be healed."

"By whom? Karin's dead or a deserter, and even then… just her raw talent wouldn't be enough to repair damage that extensive," Kabuto reasoned.

A slithering grin crossed Orochimaru's face. "My old teammate Tsunade."

"I'm afraid that isn't possible…" informed Kabuto, shaking his head. "She's returning to Konoha, and Yosei is by her side."

Orochimaru slammed his fist on the chair he sat in. "Dammit!"

"Are you going to take Baiko's body then?"

"No, it's much too soon. He hasn't developed in the slightest. There's much more he needs to awaken before I take his body for myself…" Suddenly Orochimaru froze. An idea crossed his mind, or rather, he was reminded of something that was on his radar.

Slowly, Orochimaru grinned.

"Lord Orochimaru?" asked Kabuto, mildly concerned.

Orochimaru stood from his chair. "It's painful that I must use this body for now… but there is a suitable replacement, with a body perfectly suited for me."

Kabuto's eyes went wide. "You mean—?"

"Yes. Uwabami no Daija… of the Yokai."

"You do remember why we left him to his own devices for so long, right?" Kabuto muttered, uneasiness slithered over him like a pit of snakes. "He is not to be taken lightly. Especially when you have no Jutsu and barely any chakra to speak of!"

"Now… if I was in a different body… that would be much more of an issue." Orochimaru snarled. "As pathetic as the concept of Might Gai is… his body is quite possibly the best possible one I could be in for now. One capable of withstanding the full power of the Eight Inner Gates Formation."

Admitting that tore Orochimaru from the inside out with the burning claws of fury. Everything had been infuriating—losing to Sarutobi, losing his Jutsu, losing his Chakra, losing the Jinchuriki, losing to Shinrai, losing his dignity.

"I'm done losing…" Orochimaru declared venomously. "Against Uwabami no Daija… I will win."

𓍊𓍊 ~ Chapter End ~ 𓍊𓍊